William is confused and unhappy

[elaine.e]

I expected William to be jealous of Louis as he's been an "only" dog all his life (he's 5), but he seems to be quite withdrawn as well as grumpy. I'm not sure if I'm handling the situation the best way and would appreciate some advice please.

Louis has been here for 4 days, so not long, and maybe I'm expecting too much. William doesn't want to be in the same room as Louis and will often walk out and take himself upstairs. If Louis comes close William sometimes ignores him but often growls, usually quietly but sometimes a bit louder. Louis is very persistent and doesn't seem to take the hints that William is giving him. He's always running up to William and trying to play with him, or sniff him, or just generally bouncing about near him.

The worst 2 incidents have been -

1. William was fast asleep on the hall floor and Louis legged it down the hall and jumped on poor William's head. I think Wills was quite restrained really because he leapt up in surprise, growled and snapped at Louis (but didn't make contact) then moved away.

2. The postman rang the doorbell this morning. OH answered the door with both dogs close by. Both went to say hello to the postman and William snapped at Louis and knocked him over. I wasn't there, but OH said Louis was very subdued for a few minutes afterwards.

So far we've been allowing William to find his own space and not telling him off if he growls. I think I should be trying to let them get on with it and sort themselves out providing Louis isn't actually being hurt. But I'm worried that William is becoming withdrawn when he's at home. He's fine out on his walks (no Louis nearby of course) and he's eating normally. But he's keeping himself away from me if Louis is anywhere nearby and of course Louis is near me pretty much all the time, apart from when he's asleep or if OH or someone else is paying attention to him. The main problem is with me as William is so very attached to me.

The other thing we've realised is that William is no longer drinking from his water bowl now that Louis uses it  . I've been monitoring him for a day and a half and he had a huge drink of water at a friend's house yesterday morning, then nothing until I filled a cereal bowl at lunchtime today and he drank loads again. In between times I saw him go to his normal water bowl lots of times, sniff it and turn away. The bowl is cleaned and fresh water put in twice a day.

I feel really sorry for William but I don't know if I should try doing nothing for a few more days to see if he accepts Louis, or if I should be doing something more proactive now, and if so what?

Any suggestions please?

[Annie's Mum]

It's very common my Maisie took 2 weeks just to stop snapping at Annie...we just made a huge fuss of Maisie first ALL the time. Fed her first, snacks, collar on, in car first, out car first and greeting first...it really helped but still took about 2 weeks and was as bad as you're having it don't worry too much it's very early days

[Mittens]

I remember being pretty miffed for weeks when my mum brought my baby brother home from the hospital!  Seriously though - I guess it's no different for dogs? Our puppy also stopped drinking from the water bowl when we brought our rescue home three weeks ago - I had to give them one each. They share water now I've noticed, but it took a while. Good luck and I hope they are bessie mates in no time

[Ninasmum]

Elaine from your post it all sounds similar to when i brought Jo Jo home and Alfie, bless him, just acted quite similar to how William is now.  I can understand how you feel, as i felt so guilty and kept thinking maybe i shouldn't have got her but i promise you they will sort themselves out and it will improve.     It's such early days and i am hoping in a few weeks you will be able to see a little improvement. 

When Louis is asleep you could make an extra special fuss of William.  Over the next days/weeks as William realises that you are still giving him the one to one attention too, then this will also help. 

[Top Barks]

Sounds like Bayley when I introduce another dog.
he was like this with Lucy and Alfie for a couple of weeks.

[Nicola]

I agree with the others, it's very early days and this is pretty common. Tilly still snaps at Caoimhe at least once or twice a day and she's used to having dogs coming and going, she's just not overly tolerant of pushy puppies   They may never be the best of friends, some dogs do bond like this and some don't but I'm sure William will adjust to the new arrival fairly soon and they'll be fine.

[Saffaroo]

I'd say try not to worry - it is early days yet and we encountered the same behaviour when Shelley came to stay for the weekend and didn't go back    At first Saffy was quite outraged that another dog was being welcomed into the house!  Shelley is almost totally blind, but we decided to let them just get on with it.  Now bowls are shared, beds are shared and they are totally at ease with one another.  They will never be playmates, but they are companions - where one is the other is always close by Just sit tight and give them time 

[Smudgesmum]

Yes, agree with what others have said. Don't beat yourself up.... we got Smudge after my darling Deefer died suddenly and Oliver (English Setter 5) hated being by himself and I couldn't stand not having a cocker around.
Oliver would not stay in the room with the new puppy and ran away as soon as he appeared , I felt really guilty but after 2 weeks he sniffed Smudge and although he would not let Smudge get into his bed he would stay in the room with him.Oliver gradually began to tolerate Smudge and now I can say they are good friends and Oliver hates it when Smudge is at the groomers and he is without his doggy pal.

[Spangles]

I know how you feel, William sounds just like my Lottie was when we brought Jess our rescue cocker home.  Jess was only 10 months old so was still very bouncy and puppylike but was as big as Lottie who was much calmer and didn't really like all the bouncing around.  She had always seemed a very friendly dog with other dogs but didn't seem to want to interact with Jess (even though they met on neutral ground).  When we all got home Lottie ran to her crate and sat in the back of it giving me the absolute dead eye.  I felt so guilty.  I wanted to give Jess a new home but thought I had betrayed my resident dog.   I was in tears more than once. 

I was advised to give them time and try to spend some quality time with Lottie so she didn't feel completely left out and always made sure she could retreat to her crate if Jess was getting a bit too playful.  My OH would take Jess out for a walk and me and Lottie would steal a big cuddle which made us both feel better. 

It did take about 2 weeks for them to settle down completely and 2 years on they are the best of friends - keep your chin up, I'm sure you will get there and they will be best buddies before you know it.